Valejstty wroclawski



Vv. wRoc'LAwsKl.

FREIGHT CAR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY29, I9I9.

Patented N0v.18,11919. l

VALENTY wnocLAWsKI, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FREIGHT-CAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1s, 1919.

Application filed May 29, 1919. Serial No. 300,596.

To all whom may concern:

Be. it known that I, VALENTY WRocLAwsnr, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Freight-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved construction for freight cars, having the ends thereof shiftably mounted so as to yield to pressures created by the relative shifting of the load and the car; to provide an improved arrangement of resilient means for holding said end members in place; and to provide an improved construction of said resilient means and connection thereof with said end members.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a box car, the ends of which are yieldingly supported in place in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary transverse sectional detail of one end of the car.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan, on a larger scale, of one of the shock-absorbing devices by which the lower parts of the car ends are held in place.

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the housing for the shock-absorbing devices used in the upper part of the car.

In the construction herein shown, the invention is applied to a wooden boX car, but it will be readily understood that it is equally applicable to freight cars of the gon dola or open type, and to cars of metal construction.

As illustrated in the drawings, the car is provided with end wall members 1 and 2 shiftably mounted within the sides, bottom, and top and abutting against frames 3. These end wall members are normally retained in place against the frames by shockabsorbing devices at the top and bottom of the car to which said end members are connected.

Each of the shock absorbing devices comprises a pair of plates or followers 4 and 5 shiftably mounted in a suitable housing and normally urged apart by a heavy compression spring 6. Rods 7 and 8 connect the followers 4 and 5 with the respective end members 1 and 2, whereby the springs 6 normally urge the end members inwardly against the frames 3.

The preferable construction of the housing for supporting the shock absorbers on the bottom of the car comprises a pair of castings having interfitting end flanges 9 and 10 and side flanges 11,5by means of which the housing is bolted to the framework of the car. The preferable form of the housing used in the top of the car is that shown in Fig. 4, which consists of a hollow casting open at-the bottom, through which the plates 4 and 5 and the spring 6 may be passed for the purpose of being assembled within the housing. End flanges 12 are formed on the housing, by means of which the housing is bolted to the framework of the car.

Apertures 14 are formed in the ends of the housing through which therods 7 and S pass, and inasmuch as said rods are connected to the followers which are the more remote from the respective end members, eccentrically disposed apertures 15 are formed in the followers 4 and 5, through which passes the rod not connected to the corresponding follower. As shown in Fig. 3, the rods are offset at their ends so as to be connected centrally to their respective followers.

Braces or plates 16 are secured to the end members 1 and 2 and eXtend upwardly and inwardly respectively for a considerable distance from the rods 7 and 8, so as to distribute the strain throughout a considerable portion of the respective end members.

The housings for the lower shock absorbers are located under the bottom of the car between adjacent beams 17, being secured in place by bolts extending through the flanges 11. The housings for the upper shock absorbers are secured to the sides of the car adjacent to the roof, being secured in place by bolts extending through the flanges 12.

A yielding end construction for railroad cars is particularly needed for the shipment of lumber and other loosely piled articles, for the reason that during transit the violent jars to which the load is subjected result in a relative shifting of parts of the lumber and the ear. Where the ends of the car are rigid, this relative shifting of the load results in puncturing, breakage, or even total destruction of the end walls. When the end. walls are equipped. with the hereiny described shock absorbers, relative-shifting of the load and car will merely causethe ends to yield temporarily` and ,willibeafoieL lowed by a more or less normal restoration of the load under the influence offth'esprings 6 as the c ar continues to travel.

Although but one speciiicA embodiment-of 'f this invention has been herein shown and described, it will be understood vthat numerous details of .the construction shown may be altered or omittedwithout departing from the spirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

l. A `car of the class described, comprising shiftably mounted end wall members,'s'hockV absorbing` mechanism located intermediate the ends of said car, and meansconnecting` said end members with said kshock absorbing,` mechanism whereby said end'members are normally urged toward eachother.

2. A car of ing shiftably mounted end wall`members, shook absorbingmechanism located at the top and the kbottom of said lcar intermediate its ends, and means connectinp' said end members with said shock'absor ing` mechanismwhereby said end members are normally urged toward each other.

3. A car of the class described, comprising shiftably mounted fend wall members, `shock i absorbing mechanism located"intermediate the ends of said car, and rods connecting saidfend members with said shock absorbingl mechanism whereby said endy members arev normally urged toward each other.

4. A car of the class described, comprising shiftably mounted end wallmembers, shock absorbing mechanism located: at the top and the bottom of said car intermediate its ends, rods' connecting the .shock absorb- 'the class described, compris-v ing mechanism in the bottom of said car with'the lower part of said end members and.the:.yieldingfmechanism in the top of said car with the upper part of said end members, and braces on said end members extending inwardly from their point of connectionfwith said rods.

5. A car of the class described, comprising s hiftably mounted end wall members, a

housing located intermediate the ends ofk said car, a pair of followers slidably arranged in said.housingandcoimected to the respective end inem-bers, and yieldingmeans normally acting on said followersv to normally urge the respective end members inwardly toward each other.

6. A car of the class described,comprisingshiftably mounted end wallmembers, a housinglo'cated intermediate the ends off-said car, a pair ofY followers shiftably mounted in said'housing, resilient means normally urgingisaidj followersaway from each other, and a rod connecting each of said 'followers with .the respective end member which is the; more remote therefrom7 whereby said VALENTY VROCLAWSKI. 

